Hike to a cold, dark place part of the journey for teens in Utah youth program

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Maryan jokes with her friends as the YouthWorks group waits for the tour of Timpanogos... (Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Teens from the YouthWorks program wait for a drop of water from a stalactite, as they ... (Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Ranger Cassidy Jones, shows YouthWorks participants a caterpillar during a break along... (Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Teens in the YouthWorks program make their way up the trail, on their way to Timpanogo... (Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Ranger Royce Shelley points out some interesting formations to YouthWorks participants... (Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Maryan smiles after making it to the top, for the tour of Timpanogos Cave with the You... (Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Jen Sanchez takes a photo of the group of teens from the YouthWorks program by the Kod... (Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Maryan asks Ranger Royce Shelley a question, during a tour of Timpanogos Cave with the... (Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Ranger Cassidy Jones teaches the teens from the YouthWorks program about bats, during ... (Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Maryan listens to Ranger Cassidy Jones, during a tour of Timpanogos Cave as part of t... (Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Participants in the YouthWorks program laugh as they wait for a tour of Timpanogos Cav... (Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Teens in the YouthWorks program make their way up the trail, on their way to Timpanogo... (Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Participants in the YouthWorks program check out the view, after reaching the entrance... (Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Stalactites and Stalcmites in Timpanogos Cave, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017. (Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Participants in the YouthWorks program listen to Ranger Royce Shelley, as he tells the... (Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Teens in the YouthWorks program hike down the trail, after their tour of Timpanogos Ca... (Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Maryan waits for the tour of Timpanogos Cave, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Maryan jokes with her friends as the YouthWorks group waits for the tour of Timpanogos Cave, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017.(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Teens from the YouthWorks program wait for a drop of water from a stalactite, as they tour Timpanogos Cave, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017.(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Ranger Cassidy Jones, shows YouthWorks participants a caterpillar during a break along the trail, on the way to Timpanogos Cave, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017.(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Teens in the YouthWorks program make their way up the trail, on their way to Timpanogos Cave, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017.(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Ranger Royce Shelley points out some interesting formations to YouthWorks participants on the tour of Timpanogos Cave, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017.(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Maryan smiles after making it to the top, for the tour of Timpanogos Cave with the YouthWorks program, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017.(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Jen Sanchez takes a photo of the group of teens from the YouthWorks program by the Kodachrome Rock, as they take a break from their hike, on their way to Timpanogos Cave, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017.(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Maryan asks Ranger Royce Shelley a question, during a tour of Timpanogos Cave with the YouthWorks program, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017.(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Ranger Cassidy Jones teaches the teens from the YouthWorks program about bats, during a stop along the trail on the way to Timpanogos Cave, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017.(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Maryan listens to Ranger Cassidy Jones, during a tour of Timpanogos Cave as part of the YouthWorks program, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017.(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Participants in the YouthWorks program laugh as they wait for a tour of Timpanogos Cave, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017.(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Teens in the YouthWorks program make their way up the trail, on their way to Timpanogos Cave, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017.(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Participants in the YouthWorks program check out the view, after reaching the entrance to Timpanogos Cave, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017.(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Stalactites and Stalcmites in Timpanogos Cave, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017.(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Participants in the YouthWorks program listen to Ranger Royce Shelley, as he tells the story of Timpanogos Cave, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017.(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Teens in the YouthWorks program hike down the trail, after their tour of Timpanogos Cave, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017.(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Maryan waits for the tour of Timpanogos Cave, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017.

Fifteen-year-old Maryan trudges up the trail to the Timpanogos Caves, greeting with skepticism the multiple returning hikers who assure her: “It’s totally worth the hike.”

“There is nothing American people will not do,” the Kenyan refugee mutters breathlessly. Voluntarily climbing uphill does not carry obvious appeal when life has placed mountains in your path at almost every turn.

But YouthWorks — a skills-development course for teens from underserved communities — is about facing challenges together. The 15 Salt Lake County girls enrolled this summer do what they can to encourage each other up the slope to the caves, and Maryan offers a steady supply of wisecracks and exaggerated trips and falls to entertain her friends. Her dream is to become a comedian.

Although YouthWorks’ primary emphasis is on professional skills — the teens manage community service projects and learn to build resumes and handle job interviews in three-month classes — the girls in this summer’s class say sisterhood has been the most meaningful takeaway.

“I got to see what it was like to be part of a team of girls,” said Patricia Estrada, 16, who joined YouthWorks with her sister Estrella when they saw the group’s booth at the Rose Park Festival this year. The National Parks Conservation Association and Friends of Arches and Canyonlands Parks have partnered with YouthWorks to develop an outdoors component of the program, which alternates classes of boys and girls every few months.

Most of the girls on the Timpanogos trip are eager to reach the caves, but Maryan is apprehensive. A cold, dark hole in the ground is an intimidating metaphor, she says.

Orphaned at age 3 when her parents died in the Somali civil war, Maryan was raised in Kenya with extended family. Her uncle forced her into child prostitution, she says, taking the money and subjecting her to frequent rapes. When a Catholic aid group brought Maryan and her siblings to Utah about two years ago, she says, she faced a long, difficult recovery from PTSD. The Tribune generally identifies child victims of sex crimes by their first name only.

Maryan previously braved Utah’s wilderness during a camping trip in therapy, but she says she prefers to work out her feelings in writing — and her friends in YouthWorks are eager to talk up her skills as a storyteller. Outdoor pursuits, however, are a less natural source of confidence for Maryan; she has never been inside a cave before, she says, and she fears it will be tomblike.

“I think caves are for dead people,” she says as she approaches the door at the mouth. “I have a lot of emotion about dead places. It makes me think about my parents, and what I wanted to do [to myself].”

In the caves’ entryway, Maryan returns to her comedy, poking her friends and scaring them in the dim light: “Raaaaah!”

But in the first room of the tour, she falls quiet and traces the calcite formations with her eyes.

“It’s so beautiful,” she murmurs.

As Maryan follows the trail into the three connected caves, she inhales deeply, taking in the sweetly musty smell. Her mood darkens briefly as ranger Royce Shelley tells of child volunteers who maintained the caves during World War II — “I hate wars,” she says — but brightens again as Shelley points out “Rocky,” the Saint-Bernard-looking calcite formation. Maryan gleefully improvises an elaborate parody of Stephen King’s Cujo, in which the ghost of Rocky rampages a cave tour.

Through the comic banter, dark thoughts, creative flow and a few moments of hushed awe, Maryan emerges from the cave in agreement with the hikers she met on the ascent.

“Now I know why it was worth it to hike all the way up here,” she says.